


unicursal principles

by lady_peony



Series: we are strange, strangers - #hexorcists2k19 [1]
Category: Natsume Yuujinchou | Natsume's Book of Friends
Genre: Gen, M/M, Pre-Canon, hexorcists2k19, scenic walks through a forest, with a splash of mild pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-01
Updated: 2019-11-01
Packaged: 2021-01-16 13:08:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21271541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lady_peony/pseuds/lady_peony
Summary: There is a disturbance in the forest.Seiji can sense the ripples of it, as obvious as if hearing a shout from behind, or feeling the coldness of a raindrop slinking down his neck.





	unicursal principles

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [Uncircular principles](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21371488) by [Banpresto_fan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Banpresto_fan/pseuds/Banpresto_fan)

> for the hexorcists2k19 prompt, Day 1: power
> 
> warnings for mild horror elements, though nothing stronger than what is already shown in canon

Spiritual power, by itself, is not worth much on its own.

This is something Seiji accepts.

This is something Seiji acknowledges.

_"Do you know what power is, Seiji?"_ His father's voice was low, a deep baritone. Not unduly harsh, but measured and steady, the same way a tiger might stalk its prey through the underbrush.

Seiji had closed his books, set aside the brush in his hand as he considered the question.

Power; as in not just the sight, nor wealth, nor inherited houses.

There were families, though strong in sight, who had fallen into despair from too much pride or too many grudges. There were families, though in possession of wealth and names centuries-old, who had fallen due to mismanagement or neglect.

Power without purpose is wasted strength.

A fire needs wood to burn, yes; an exorcist needs to_ see_ what lurks in shadows and in the ruins.

But without the proper direction, the proper control, it will double back and devour you.

* * *

There is a disturbance in the forest.

Seiji can sense the ripples of it, as obvious as if hearing a shout from behind, or feeling the coldness of a raindrop slinking down his neck.

The sharp scent of leaves and sap rise into the air as he sneaks down the path, taking care not to stay in the light too long. In passing, a stretch of itadori stems whisper with the wind, here; there, an unexpected splash of blue wildflowers.

The sun is sinking quickly, as it does these autumn days. He'll have to leave soon, if he does not want to miss the evening meal.

What he finds is a pleasant surprise.

Shuuichi-san, when he sees Seiji, doesn't frown or snipe at him, as Seiji might expect.

"Ah, it's you," is all Shuuichi-san says, and stuffs the scroll he had been holding into his bag, places the stick he had been holding by the base of a tree.

It isn't quite cheerfulness either. He says it the way one might sigh at a cloudy sky, or at a stray cat following him, hoping for an odd tidbit or two.

Seiji is curious to find out what he had been reading. Or what spell he had been testing, judging by the unsettled earth, and the half-scuffed image. On the other hand, it's unlikely that it is something Seiji himself doesn't already know.

Talking to Shuuichi-san himself would garner the most information.

"Did you end up setting half the field on fire, Shuuichi-san?"

"I did not! I only—" ah, the frown there, that Seiji recognizes "maybe singed a bit of my hair if anything. It was an experiment." His voice lowers near the end, as if slightly embarrassed.

"Oh? Is that all?" Seiji leans in, and smiles. He doesn't bother to hold back.

"What—"

"Your hair still looks the same."

"Y-You didn't have to touch it to find that out!"

Seiji draws away his hand from the bangs over Shuuichi's forehead, and shrugs, suggesting that his actions were indeed very necessary to find that out.

"So." Shuuichi-san pulls down his own hand, after flattening the front of his hair with one quick swipe. "What were you doing here, anyways?"

"Bored. There aren't too many areas of interest in these woods."

"I did what I came to do today. So I'll be going. Goodbye." Shuuichi-san has pulled on his school jacket, making every indication of leaving.

"I need to leave this time as well. Looks like we'll be going the same way, Shuuichi-san."

"Why—oh, never mind."

They walk quietly.

Half a mile, one mile.

The red-orange in the sky shrinks like a closing fan, changing its patterns to a deep blue-black.

They must have walked two miles now, at least.

Seiji expects to see the steps of the faded shrine soon. From there, he would need to cross over a short stretch of grass and pass a grove of bamboo to get home.

It's colder. The back of his neck, the line of his fingers, feels it the most.

Strange.

His trip out of this stretch of forest seemed much longer than his initial trip had been.

Shuuichi stops walking.

"Seiji. Are you still there?"

"Yes. I feel it."

This wasn't as bad as it might have been. Seiji has his bow. Shuuichi his equipment. Both of them are here, on this path, able to keep an eye out for peculiar shapes in the shadows, grasping claws and hunger-whetted teeth.

It would be hard to identify which youkai this would be in this case, with so few facts to go on.

There were so very many mischievous ones, so many bloodthirsty ones who could tangle paths, confuse a traveler's sense of direction until they wandered into its waiting maws.

Shuuichi's voice is calm. A good sign.

"What should I do? Should I—"

"A shiki, especially one that can guide us through to the right path."

"A paper one. I'll do it. But," a wisp of hesitation here, "it may be hard to see, in these circumstances. I can't exactly make it glow in the dark."

Honesty was better than misdirection.

Seiji has his bow, and his arrows of course, but just shooting those off into the air, unnecessarily, would take them nowhere.

"That's fine," Seiji says. In the breaths of space between them, he can still see vaguely the side of Shuuichi-san's face, the shape of arms and hands, crossed over each other. "I'll follow you. You should be able to feel it, as it moves."

Shuuichi-san stays quiet. Then he breathes out, murmurs something softly.

A whispering sound, as a single paper shiki detaches itself from Shuuichi's hand, and swoops into the space before them.

Seiji drops one of his hands, lets it dangle by his hip.

"Seiji?"

He curls in his hand, closer, more firmly, around Shuuichi-san's, feels blood thrumming up Shuuichi's wrist, pounding, pounding.

"If we're attacked, we will fight. This is better for now, so I won't lose track of you."

"I—" Shuuichi-san goes silent, for a heartbeat, turning over the logic of Seiji's words. "Fine."

Shuuichi-san's fingers lace between his, one thumb curling over the other, the pressure sure and palpable. Seiji's left hand over Shuuichi's right one.

Shuuichi-san is still walking, his head tilting, straining to follow the path his paper shiki was fluttering over.

"_Is someone there?...over here...come_** over here**_.._."

Silence, for another moment. Then the unseen voice begins again, despairing.

"_I'm hurt, I'm hurt so badly_..._are you leaving me?._..**Come** _back..._"

He can feel Shuuichi shivering in his own skin, his steps slowing. "What is—"

"Keep walking," Seiji says, squeezes Shuuichi-san's hand once. "Just follow the shiki. Don't look back."

"_...I'm lost..._**please**_...please help me.._."

This voice sounds different, more like a young child, echoes of short, plaintive sobs drifting through the dark in between their words.

"_I _**want** _to go home...I want.._."

"Just listen to me," Seiji says. "We're almost there."

"You can't know that!"

"_Don't abandon me here...I'm scared..._**someone.**_.._"

"Concentrate, Shuuichi-san. Or shall I sing something, to drown out those distractions?"

"Do you even know any songs?"

Good. Shuuichi-san sounds more perplexed, and a little less distressed.

Shuuichi-san's foot goes down, his body sinking slightly, as if he had tripped over a pebble. Seiji holds on.

"Be careful not to let go, now."

Shuuichi-san surely scowls at that, but he only huffs out a breath, and keeps walking.

The woods get darker.

Whatever it is, hasn't rushed out at them yet. So, Seiji can only deduce that it either feared it was too weak to take on the both of them. Or it had been well-fed enough for the evening that it was content with merely playing malicious tricks.

It's still so very dark.

He can't see the shiki that Shuuichi sent out. Only if he concentrates, lets his eyes go wide in the dark can he just barely glimpse the flickering ahead, the shadow-shape sailing through the air.

Ah, he must correct himself. He can see it now.

It has stopped moving. Circles back to Shuuichi's open palm, and twirls once, twice, thrice, before it lays flat.

Shuuichi takes in a deep breath. Tips his head up.

"We're out. The stars are here."

Seiji breathes in, out. It's easier now. There's no dark pressure in the air, no eerie voices at the edge of hearing.

He looks. Shuuichi is right. The stars are out in full force, small scatterings of light over the sky.

He drops his glance again, to see Shuuichi's face, the flushed spots over his cheeks. Shuuichi's head turns, his eyes meeting Seiji's.

"Is it all right to—to let—?" Shuuichi-san holds up their hands, fingers still laced together.

Seiji wants to say 'no.' Somewhere in the back of his mind, he's curious as to what Shuuichi would say if he did so.

Instead, he nods.

Shuuichi takes away his hand. "I should be going." He runs a hand through his hair, and lifts his glance to Seiji. "Thank you. For—for your advice back there. I mean it."

Seiji lifts his own hand, waves it, almost exaggerating the movement. "Bye then, Shuuichi-san."

Shuuichi shoots him one last look, and starts walking.

Seiji stops waving. He opens his hand. Stares at it.

He sees pink marks on his palm, where Shuuichi-san's fingers had curled in, just a little too tightly.

_"Power is the ability to chase what one desires and keep it, is it not?'"_  
  
His hand shifts, turns over, his fingers spreading outwards.

Framed in the space between his thumb and his index finger, Shuuichi-san walks, his shadow following, receding with him into the distance—

Seiji turns around.

**Author's Note:**

> +title explanation: [a unicursal labyrinth 'only has a single path to the center, unlike branching multicursal mazes with choices of path and direction'](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labyrinth)


End file.
